Yellowstone actor “kicked off” plane because he didn’t want to sit next to masked passenger

Yellowstone actor Forrie J. Smith says he was “kicked off a plane” for refusing to sit next to a passenger wearing a face mask. Smith previously disclosed that he was unvaccinated by choice, a stance which is often accompanied by being anti-mask. Yet few could claim to be so anti-mask that they’d risk being deplaned over it.

“I just got kicked off a plane in—where the hell am I at?—Houston, Texas, because I told them I didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to somebody with a mask on,” Smith, who plays Lloyd Pierce on Taylor Sheridan’s flagship show, shared in a video posted on his Instagram. “Yeah, I’ve been drinking. I’ve been sitting in the airport for three hours, yeah, I’m drinking. But I ain’t drunk. But they throwed me off the plane ’cause I’m drunk ’cause you people won’t stand up and tell everybody what bullshit this is.”

Smith said he told “them” that he “didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to somebody that had to wear a mask,” and was subsequently “off the plane.” It’s unclear if Smith believed that the person “had” to wear a mask because they were sick, or if he simply objects to other people wearing masks in his presence under any condition. In either scenario, the airline would actually be obliging his request not to sit next to a masked passenger by removing him from the plane, so can it really be called getting “kicked off”?

According to Variety, Smith skipped the SAG Awards in 2022 (when Yellowstone was nominated for best ensemble) because of its rules around vaccinations. “I want to apologize to y’all for not being at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. I mean no offense to anyone. I’m not vaccinated, and it’s a requirement to be vaccinated,” he said in a video posted to social media. “I’m not vaccinated, I will not get vaccinated. I haven’t been vaccinated since I was a little kid. I don’t vaccinate my dogs, I don’t vaccinate my horses. I’ve never had a flu shot. I never will. I believe they compromise your immunities… It’s just my beliefs. I just don’t believe in that stuff. Whatever.”